When Two Dreams Become One
by AlysonAkers
Summary: Alyson Akers starts a new life at her near disappointment of a college, the University of Texas. Despite this, her disappointment becomes short lived, as she meets her first someone special, who just so happens to be Olympic swimmer, Townley Haas. Not only does her college become a positive in her life, but a full on blessing.
1. Prologue

Alyson Akers had put her heart and soul in getting into her dream school, Duke University. Despite her massive achievements-salutatorian of her class, top of the line SAT scores, 300+ hours of community service, and district MVP in volleyball-her dream was crushed. Not only that, but all the dreams of going to any highly esteemed school had been crushed. University of Chicago: nope. Northwestern: nada. Vanderbilt: zilch. It stung. She didn't understand where she went wrong. There was only a single school she had applied and been accepted: her back up, her automatic acceptance, the University of Texas. Alyson had nothing against the school, in fact she had been bred a longhorn since birth, but she just thought she was destined for somewhere else. But boy, was she wrong.

After recovering from multiple rejection letters, Alyson put her game face back on. She was in the running for a huge scholarship from St. Davids, which if she won, would pay for her entire undergrad as well as half of medical school. As soon as she finished her final presentation, one of many she'd given over the past month, she knew she had nailed it. Even then, the announcement of her victory seemed a shock. With so much ache put on her heart from her failure to get into her dream school, she didn't believe success was destined for her. Tears of joy flowed, and suddenly Alyson understood why God had taken away the opportunity of Duke University: he was giving her an even better one in her hometown of Austin, Texas.

Alyson inhaled deeply. This was it, bid day. Rush had been exhausting, and on top of that she had been getting into the gym late at night to work on her volleyball technique in order to make the club team at her university. School hadn't even started and she'd never been more tired in her life. She was relieved to find that 90% of the sororities were not rich, snobby girls as the movies depicted. Alyson was only able to afford the sorority because her college was paid for, so she was nervous about the other girls at first. She knew the house she loved, the home she had pledged, and prayed to God that they had pledged her as well. Alyson took one more look in the mirror, brushed her hair out of her face, and headed out the door.

Once again, Alyson cried tears of joy the moment she found out her home for the next four years would be Zeta Tau Alpha. The girls in her new home were the most genuine and hilarious girls she had met, and they were now her sisters! She laughed off the tears and relished in all the picture taking that was occurring. The girl she had connected with most directly, Melanie, a year older than her, embraced Alyson with so much warmth that she knew this was home.

Fast forward nine days. Lots of training had been put into this, and she felt confident for once in her life at tryouts. She stood, ready in athletic stance at the ten foot line, and released as soon as the coach slapped the ball. Dashing to setters position, Alyson kept her eyes on the ball the whole time, jumping in perfect tempo as the volleyball fell onto her fingertips. A perfect jump set to outside. She continued her rounds, also performing a shoot, a quick middle set, a quick back set, and a regular back set. Alyson stole a glance at the coaches judging her, and she could tell, they were impressed by her setting abilities. The brunette smiled to herself, feeling more and more confident by the second.

The tryout continued, and so did Alyson's success. She served every spot just as they told her in the serving round. In setters defense, she picked up even the hardest hit balls, and did well to get her 5'10 frame up for the block. Not only that, but she hit some of her best kills ever that day, including some line and hard cross shots she didn't even know she had in her. She smiled inwardly, knowing that being a leftie gave her a spark. Following a bit of play time, the athletes were left to wait for the decision. Alyson sat down with her former high school teammates, Katherine and Janelle, and they gossiped about volleyball, school, and sorority life, Katherine being a Tri Delta and Janelle being a Chi Omega.

Suddenly, the head coach of the University of Texas Club Team emerged to announce those who had made fall league to the 100+ girls there. She was going in alphabetical order, and there were only 12 girls who would make it through. It was now or never.

"First, making it through as a setter," Alyson's stomach churned and her muscles tensed up as she waited for the next words to release, "Alyson Akers!" Alyson couldn't help herself, she squealed and jumped, but quickly collected herself to walk over and shake hands with her new coach. The tall woman continued, but Alyson found it hard to focus. Until, she heard her teammate's name called.

"Making it through as a libero, Janelle Ortiz!" Alyson gasped, one of her best friends had made it too! Oh god, please let Katherine be the next name, Alyson thought to herself. It took two more people between, but her wish had been granted.

"Making it through as a middle blocker, Katherine Westerfeld!" Alyson jumped up high the same way she did when they made it to state semi finals senior year. Her two best friends made it through with her. Nothing could describe this feeling, and Alyson was high on euphoria.


	2. Chapter 1

Townley Haas is no ordinary 20 year old. Oh no, far from it. He is an Olympic athlete. Yeah, no big deal. But really, to Townley, he didn't let it be one. He went to the pool every day, swam for hours with his longhorn team, and commenced the rest of his day as a normal college student. It still hasn't really hit him, the fact that he had won Olympic gold a year ago, but he knew the pressure of Team USA was building. He was starting to be a swimmer they relied on, the future of the freestyle stroke in the United States, as commenters had said in the past. That statement was very true. At NCAA tournaments he blew his competition out of the water, kind of figuratively.

In his own way though, he found a balance to make his life still seem normal. He really didn't want to get caught up the the whole fame thing, it didn't seem worthwhile. Being a college student was fun, and he was living the dream.

Today was the first football game of the season, and of course, he was going out tailgating. Texas was very different from his home back in Virginia, but in a good way. The heat would be sweltering, but he would manage. He opted against the cowboy boot thing, and decided for a much more sensible pair of burnt orange shorts with Nikes. He slipped on his white University of Texas polo, and felt good enough to go, slipping out the door and not really thinking twice about how he looked.

Needless to say, girls are quite the opposite. Especially southern girls going to a college football game. Alyson was no exception. She may have an athletic background, but she relished in the feeling of getting all dressed up. She applied her eyeliner, just a thin line, and then spruced up her lashes with mascara. A bit of concealer and some Chapstick was enough to finish off the makeup look for her, as she preferred to go more natural. She curled her long brown tresses and shook them out, letting them fall into effortless chocolate waves. She slipped on her burnt orange off the shoulder top, high waisted shorts, tan cowboy boots, and Kendra Scott accessories. To complete the look, she added her gold monogram necklace, Ray Ban aviators, and a Tory Burch crossbody. Alyson felt good. Comfy and casual, but still confident. It was time for her first college football game as a college student.

Alyson walked with her new sorority sisters over to the tailgating area, excited to say the least. The smell of the Texas style BBQ made her mouth water. This athlete was hungry. Alyson looked around her and was excited to meet so many new people and start new conversations and friendships. She noticed there were quite a few attractive guys there, and tried her best not to swoon, knowing it wasn't in her character to fall all over silly boys.

Townley, on the other hand, had his eyes on one girl and one girl alone. It had been over a year since he and Catalina had broken things off, but he was still surprised at himself for being so attentive to the unknown beauty. She was tall, something he wasn't exactly used to, and tan so tan. Not the whole spray yourself down with layers of fake tan kind, the kind where it was in her blood, and after a long Texan Summer her skin had deepened in the rays of the sun. Suddenly, Townley felt subpar, with his pale skin, but shrugged it off knowing it suited him fine. This mystery girl lifted her sunglasses off her face and onto her head and the view for Townley only got better, as her eyes were a shiny hazel, big and beautiful. He recognized himself staring and realized he really should stop this, knowing that a girl like that was probably out of his league, Olympic swimmer or not.

"Alyson, there's someone I want you to meet." Melanie said as she dragged her hand along behind her.

Alyson smiles, "I'm pretty sure you want me to meet everyone here." Melanie laughed at this, knowing it was true.

"Well, yes, but this is more particular. There's this guy," Melanie strolled right next to Alyson now, "and we may or may not have a thing."

Alyson raised her eyebrows in approval, becoming noisier by the second. "Oh,"

she cooed, "and who is this special guy?"

Melanie searched for a just a moment, struggling a little with her 5'4 height, quite the paradox from Alyson's height, but eventually she found who she was searching for. She nodded towards him and Alyson researched her friends' prey. Not bad, she thought to herself. He was a reasonable height, somewhere around 6', and had trimmed dirty blond hair with dark brown eyes. She could see her petite blond hair blue eyed Melanie with this guy, if, of course, he was a good guy.

"So I want you to meet him, but I also asked you to come because I didn't want his friend to be awkward." She gestured towards the even taller boy next to her boy of choice, and Alyson was surprised she hadn't noticed this giant before. One of my kind, she laughed to herself.

"Is he awkward or something?" Alyson queried, not sure she wanted to be dragged into an awkward conversation with a stranger.

"Um..not sure." Melanie guessed, turning her voice lower since they had gotten closer and caught the attention of the two males. "But, he is an Olympian, so I'd just go with it."

"A what?" Alyson said, genuinely confused, not sure she had heard her right. It was too late though, as she was already introducing her after hugging them both.

"Y'all this is Alyson. Alyson this is Brad and Townley." Melanie was quite composed, and Alyson admired her confidence in the presence of the man she appeared to be courting. She shook both of their hands, and did her best to not be the awkward one, but didn't have much time to make an impression on Brad, who nonchalantly asked Melanie to come over to the grill with her. She looked a bit taken aback, but agreed easily and left with him, giving Alyson a strained smile as she went.

Suddenly she had a funny feeling this Brad guy had left her and Townley alone with a purpose. Alyson smiled down and then looked up at the boy in front of her, surveying his attractive height and nice eyes quickly before laughing softly under her breath.

Townley followed, "Yeah, Brad would be the one to leave me stranded." He smiled and nodded, just a twinge of awkwardness that she had had expected.

"Hey now, you have me!" Alyson retorted, knowing he probably needed a nice person to talk to, not a stiff snob.

"Okay, okay you're right. I think you'll do for company." Townley smiled, feeling a bit more comfortable. "So are you a freshman? I don't think I've ever seen you around."

"Yeah. I met Melanie in ZTA, I'm a Zeta too." Alyson explains. Go figure, Townley thought, she was gorgeous, and most Zetas were.

"Liking the whole sorority thing?" He questioned, knowing she did.

"Oh wow, I can't talk about it enough." Alyson winced at herself. "I'm just so excited for everything to come in the chapter. I already know I want to get on the board next year and then go for president the next. There's lots of opportunity and good times in the Zeta house."

"So I'm guessing you're a bit of an overachiever? Not a bad thing but I could sense it." Townley said to her.

"Yeah, I definitely carry the nerd gene. And the overachiever gene. That's just me." Alyson laughed, and Townley did with her.

"Okay so how big of a nerd are we talking?" He nagged at her playfully.

"Do you really want to know?" She asked him tentatively, and he nodded. "Well, let's just say I was second in my class last year."

Townley's brows raise, she was much smarter than he anticipated. Not that he expected a bimbo, but salutatorian? That's impressive. "And you're at UT because..?" He asked in awe of the not only beautiful but also highly intelligent girl in front of him.

Alyson grimaced, "Well, I wasn't exactly accepted to my dream school, Duke." Townley nodded in understanding, not knowing how they could've turned her down. "But, it all honestly worked out for the best. I was able to be in a scholarship competition put on by St. David's for kids wanting to go to medical school," of course she was gonna be a doctor, Townley thought to himself, amazed, "and I won first place. My college is paid for and that's an opportunity I wouldn't have had at Duke."

Townley was just stunned. This girl was telling him she had her whole life together pretty much. He wasn't sure where his Olympic gold matched up in comparison, and in his mind he realized that they were both something special in their own ways.

"So...wow." He was at a bit of a loss for words. "I mean that's honestly really impressive, you must have had lots on your resume to back up your grades."

"I suppose so yeah, I had quite a few extracurriculars." Alyson said this with confidence yet without cockiness. Townley continued to be impressed.

"Like..?"

"Oh, I mean, we don't really have to go into it." For the first time she didn't sound sure of herself.

"You know Alyson, it's okay for you to brag on yourself. Your achievements seem pretty amazing and that's awesome." Alyson was surprised at his use of her name, but found it comforting enough that she caved to his request.

"Um, well, I guess there's kind of a lot. But my main one was volleyball, I was on varsity for three years and played club since seventh grade. I was the president of National Honor Society at my school, and I had a lot of community service hours, somewhere around 300. I ran track too, the 800, but I wasn't too amazing at it, I just liked running. I did a lot with my church, I sang in the church band and taught Sunday school every week. The last two summers I was a camp counselor at a cute little camp in Kerville, and I really don't think I expected how much fun I'd have there. I'm sure there were other things I did, but what I mentioned is what's important. I know I rambled a bit..." Alyson faded out, but Townley seemed dumbfounded.

"So, you managed to do all of that, and be salutatorian?" He laughed and she laughed at herself, putting her hand over her face. "I think you were right about the overachiever gene."

"I know, I know. It was all worth it though. It wasn't easy but I enjoyed all of it." Alyson felt the conversation weighing much too heavily on herself. "But please, let's talk about something else. Melanie said something when we were coming over here about you, but I wasn't really sure what it was..." She eyed Townley, waiting for him to confirm her disbelief.

"Yeah, well, I guess this is where I drop the bomb. I'm an Olympian." He admitted, not really wanting her to give him attention for this reason.

"And you said my achievements were awesome." Alyson shook her head. "I'm going with a wild guess that you were a swimmer?"

Townley nodded. "What gave me away?"

"The 6'6 gave you away." She laughed, pleased to feel short next to a guy.

"You're wrong though, I'm only 6'5." He joked. Alyson rolled her eyes.

"Okay, 6'5, so short. But really, what was that like? The olympics, I mean. Like that's just an unfathomable feat." Alyson admired this fact about him but tried to remember he was just a normal guy.

"Incredible to put it simply. I mean, I swam in a relay with Michael Phelps and won gold. I couldn't have asked for more out of an Olympics."

"Wow, I feel so stupid." Alyson grimaced, "I'm talking to an Olympic champion right now and didn't even realize it."

"I'm just Townley." He said, hoping this seemingly perfect girl wouldn't turn uncomfortable on him like many had since he had gained that title of Olympic champ.

"Okay, Townley. So what relay was it?" She questioned.

"The 4x200."

"Ah, so did you know you'd done it after your leg?" She wondered aloud.

Townley and Alyson continued their conversation, with her asking him questions about the Games, Rio, and his swimming life in general. He was pleased to find she knew some things about swimming most were oblivious to, and basked in the fact that this girl was interested in his story without being starry eyed and gawky. Alyson came across this way, but she did feel a bit star struck deep down. An Olympic champion, how about that? Her accomplishments were minute in comparison. Not that it really mattered. When it came down to it though, the thing that Alyson enjoyed the most about the conversation was not necessarily his crazy achievements, but just him. His personality shined brighter the more comfortable he got, and she appreciated his dorky sense of humor, kind gestures, and focused mindset. They talked for so long, Alyson didn't even realize that it was time for her to head to the stadium with her Zeta sisters. She bid him farewell with a hug and a big grin, and left him watching her walk away, in awe at his luck of meeting such an amazing girl.


	3. Chapter 2

Alyson stood among her fellow students in their designated section, surrounded by mighty war cries coming from sweaty college guys and high pitched screams from the girls. She was completely invigorated. She had experienced probably near a hundred UT games in her first seventeen years, but none of them compared to this. The students buzzed with excitement and energy she had never felt before. Melanie felt completely at home, and soon enough, so did Alyson. She yelled out 'TEXAS', with her horns up high, and felt the noise reverberate back at her as the other side of the massive stadium chanted 'FIGHT' back at them. The cheers continued, and soon the kickoff was seconds away.

The stadium was roaring, ear splitting to be exact. It built up louder and louder until the sound seemed to fill her up, even her bones. The kickoff was completed and Brandon Jones caught the ball, racing against the oncoming defense. He made it a full 15 yards, juking and finessing his way across the field, before being tackled.

The Texas offense worked efficiently, making quick passes and picking up a strong run game. Slowly but surely, the Longhorns made their way across the field, ending the possession with a 20 yard pass touchdown. The student section went wild and the cannon blew, announcing the first University of Texas touchdown of the season. Alyson turned to Melanie, gave her a high ten, and hugged her tight. This was going to be a good year.

Maryland attempted to work their offense against a quick and agile Texas defense, but they didn't stand a chance against the talented Longhorn front. Texas scored twice more, and on the third cannon blast, Alyson noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

Townley. He stood diagonal from her, a section over and a couple of rows down. He and his friends rowelled up the crowd further, pumping their fists, chest bumping, and going crazy. Alyson giggled at the sight of a different side of Townley, a much more confident one. She felt enticed to go and celebrate with him, but didn't want to detract from his fun.

Half time neared and UT lead the score 21-0. On the final snap of the half, Maryland released the ball, only to fumble it. A huge defensive lineman picked up the ball and hurled himself into the end zone, just making it. Definitely a dramatic ending.

Melanie and Alyson once again embraced and did a little further cheering, before Melanie began to speak, "Tell me you know the greatness that is Torchy's."

"I grew up in Austin, how could I not?!" Alyson exclaimed. Torchy's Tacos was an Austin essential, dubbed a bit quirky, it was the perfect taco joint for the city.

"Well then you'll join be for a nice halftime meal." Melanie wiggled her eyebrows. "I'm sure you're hungry considering you didn't even eat BBQ, you just talked to mister Olympian the whole time we were there."

"Hey!" Alyson joked as they began the trek down the steep stairways of DKR Stadium. "You left me all alone, it's not my fault. And thanks for the heads up about the whole Olympian thing. I looked like an idiot when I didn't even know who he was."

"Oh please, I'm sure he was overjoyed that you didn't know him. Everyone he meets already does usually. And I'm thinking he was enjoying your company quite a bit Alyson." Melanie jabbed at her, knowing she had seen at least something between the two.

Alyson scoffed. "Yeah, right. As if the guy even has time for a girl, he's an Olympic athlete! And plus, it wasn't like that. We joked a bit but not to the point of flirting."

Melanie shrugged simply, knowing she had already made her point. They had made it to the food court area of the stadium, and got in the back of a long line for Torchy's Tacos. The amazing taco place was no secret in the metropolis. They worked pretty fast though, and soon enough Alyson and Melanie were at the front of the line.

"Hi, um, may I please have the Independent and the Trailer Park?" Alyson asked politely, glancing at the menu and then smiling at the worker.

"Of course." The cashier replied.

"Oh! And can I please have the trailer park trashy?" She added, knowing that queso was always necessary.

The cashier nodded and tapped on her screen, "That'll be $7.25." Alyson handed her the cash and received her change quickly, stepping out of the way for Melanie to order.

Five minutes later, their tacos were ready, and the two girls found their way to a table with some of their other sorority sisters, Madison and Jen. The quartet laughed away at each other's stories, enjoying the delicious food all the while.

"Hey, I need to go to the bathroom." Melanie said suddenly. "Anyone else need to go?"

Alyson shook her head, "No I think I'm good." Melanie looked toward the other two girls, who nodded in unison, agreeing that they needed to go as well. Well, Alyson thought, might as well go with them.

"Alyson can you watch our stuff?" Melanie asked. Alyson stopped in her attempt to stand with the others and nodded sweetly, feeling a bit abandoned as the others walked away but trying not to let it get her down. Almost as soon as they were out of sight, she felt someone's presence coming near her.

"Enjoying your tacos?" Alyson turned her head, mouth full of fried chicken and queso from her trailer park taco, to see Townley standing above her. Mortified was a subtle way to put it.

She felt her cheeks redden as she attempted to chew her food quickly, which she finally succeeding in finishing. Not before Townley had a bit of a chuckle to himself, though. Oh gosh, she thought, this was embarrassing.

"Definitely." Alyson replied finally, not really sure how else to respond. Townley pulled up a chair and put his basket of tacos down next to hers.

"Trailer Park trashy. Good choice. Although the independent? A bit hippy if l do say so myself." He smiled at her.

"Have you ever had the Independent?" Alyson raised her brow at him, and he replied with a shake of his head. "I'd have to say I think it's better than the Trailer Park."

Townley overdramatizes his reaction when he hears this proclamation pass her lips. "No no no. The Trailer Park is the second best, but the Brushfire, that's where it's at."

"I'm sorry Mr. Townley, but you're sadly mistaken. You're losing out on the best taco from Torchy's, so sad." Alyson played her game fair and square.

"Have you had the Brushfire?"

"I have. Subpar. But your effort was valiant." And with that, Alyson took another bite of her Independent taco.

Townley admired her confidence, and her appetite. He believed that her prized taco was probably pretty good, but he'd never let her know that.

"I'm an Austin native, I know my stuff." Alyson continued, waiting for him to respond. Instead, he changed the subject.

"So anything else I should know about you?" He asked.

"What do you want to know?" Alyson questioned.

"Well..I know you grew up here, which I am also wondering where you went to high school, but, the more important question, how are you liking Austin as a student?"

Alyson appreciated Townley's curiousness, even though she knew she wasn't that interesting a person. She gave him an answer anyway, "I went to Bowie High School, it's in south Austin. And well, I'm loving it at UT. The campus is nice and I've always loved my city. The classes are difficult, I'm in the honors program and technically I'm already a sophomore so it's hitting me, but I'm handling it."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Townley asked, yet again in awe of her intelligence.

"Lots," Alyson laughed, "I can't win an Olympic medal. Let alone a gold one."

"Flattering, really. But I'm serious. You must be involved in some kind of club, considering everything you did in high school." At this, Alyson smiled. "What is it?"

"I actually just made the club volleyball team three days ago." She said slowly, with a growing grin.

"Bad-ass, that's awesome! I bet your a setter. And clearly a very good one at that." Townley knew he had guessed right when he saw her expression.

"I am a setter." She paused. "Townley, don't take this the wrong way, but...why are you so interested in me?" Alyson awaited his response eagerly.

Townley didn't want to get too drawn out with his answer, so he put it simply. "Because Alyson, you're an interesting person."

Alyson blushed and looked down. Townley decided to not stop there, and he put his hand on hers, "You don't give yourself enough credit. I don't know why, but you really do have a lot going for you."

With those words, Alyson felt her chest tighten, and for the first time ever, she felt something more complex than attraction towards a boy.


End file.
